Arc:Verb Inflection
Arc verbs have an extensive conjugation system. All Arc verbs except for to be, to do and to become have an invariable stem and are inflected based on a single conjugation. All Arc verbs are inflected for: Aspects * : used for completed actions *:e.g. "I ate" * : used for incomplete actions *:e.g. "I was eating" Voices * : the standard voice *:e.g. "I love" * : the object becomes the subject of the action *:e.g. "I am loved" * : the subject causes the object to do the action *:e.g. "I make him love" Finite Moods * : indicates actuality or strong probability; expresses an assertion, denial or question *:e.g. "He ate an apple" * : used to express statements contrary to the present state or conditional statements *:e.g. "If I were you, ..." * : used to express: **in the future tense - desires; **:e.g. "I want to believe" **in the present - assumptions; and, **:e.g. "I think he believed me" **in the past - contrary-to-fact past events. **:e.g. "If you had called, I would have come" * : used to make a command *:e.g. "Go!", "don't go!" Tenses * : used for current actions1 and to express habitual action2 *:e.g. (1) "I am swimming" *:e.g. (2) "I don't eat meat" * : used to indicate something which happened an unknown or irrelevant amount of time in the past *:e.g. "I have loved and lost" * : used for completed past actions *:e.g. "I went" * : used to indicate a continuous action in the past1 or a past habit2 *:e.g. (1) "I was going" *:e.g. (2) "I used to go" * : used to express a past event that has only just been completed1 or was just completed before another past event2 *:e.g. (1) "I just ate" *:e.g. (2) "I had just eaten" * : expresses intention1, prediction2 or, when used in the subjunctive mood, that something naturally follows from something else3 *:e.g. (1) "We'll go there tomorrow" *:e.g. (2) "It's going to rain" *:e.g. (3) "If you fall you will die" * : expresses a future action that will be completed before another future action *:e.g. "I'll have left by then" Numbers *Singular & Plural: agree with the subject of the verb Persons *First, Second & Third: agree with the subject of the verb Non-finite Forms * : used as a noun phrase or with why as in "why do it?" *:e.g. "To err is human" * : turns the verb into a noun of the act of doing it *:e.g. "I like swimming" * : turns the verb into an adjective of the act of doing it *:e.g. "running water" * : used to indicate purpose of an action *:e.g. "I went there to shop" Conjugations *Arc:Formal Verb Conjugation *Arc:Standard Verb Conjugation *Arc:Casual Verb Conjugation Irregular Verbs Arc has only three irregular verbs; all others follow the same conjugation. The irregular verbs are: * : to be; * : to do; and, * : to become. These verbs take very different forms depending on the voice and mood. The indicative, subjunctive and conditional forms then take regular tense, number and person suffixes. Standard and formal use the same suffixes; casual suffixes in parentheses. The imperative form is only inflected for number: Singular : g'' Plural : ''s The non-finite forms are as follows: s When the agent and patient of the verb are the same, the direct object is marked with the prefix (becoming s'-'' where Arc phonotactics allows) :e.g. ''(ig) srioisigog s'omi. ::"I (masc.) washed myself" Negation Negation is achieved in Arc with either a prefix or an infix. # In verbs with only one syllable, ni is prefixed to the verb (affixed before any other prefixes). # In verbs with two syllables, ni is infixed between the first and second syllables, unless the second syllable is just a single short vowel, in which case follow rule 1. # In verbs with more than two syllables, follow rule 2, unless the second syllable is just a single short vowel, in which case ni is infixed between the second and third syllables. Relative verbs If the verb is placed before a noun, it becomes a relative verb; similarly, if a clause is placed before a noun, it becomes a relative clause.